Velemegna Case Histories

Velemegna Case Histories

Thinking her huge abdomen was a pregnancy, lasting two years, a woman came to Velemegna and what was actually a 10 lb. tumor was removed.

The nearby sugar cane processing facility was the site of several serious injuries. A villager whose one arm had been caught in a crusher and had used his other hand to free it, sadly needed both arms amputated to save his life. When another worker’s knife accidentally struck a moving piece of machinery, fragments of the knife flew out to seriously injure three co-workers. All received emergency operations and fully recovered.

With Christy away during a cholera epidemic, staff were given cholera vaccine. Sushila’s injection was contaminated with penicillin which caused a very serious reaction that did not respond to an anti-allergic injection. The small Salins daughters knelt in prayer, and Christy returned home in time to get emergency drugs into his wife.

A woman with a history of intestinal obstruction came to the hospital eight months pregnant. The baby had formed in a sack attached to her abdomen, the walls of which were so thin the baby’s limbs could be held. Mother and child went home well, but sadly the 4-month old infant died from gastro-enteritis.

Children were always a great concern to the Salins. When a 5-year old girl was brought to Velemegna so severely deformed from tuberculosis she could only crawl, treatment was begun and soon she could stand on both legs. Within five years, she was walking straight. At age 19, she began a career as a skilled nursing aid.

Two orphaned brothers, suffering from full-blown lepromatous leprosy, were brought to the hospital by a caring pastor. Food, lodging and medical care were given immediately. Five years later, both brothers were cured and found jobs as a driver and construction worker.

Viral encephalitis had left ten-year old Shantu sightless and with such deformed legs he could only crawl. Desperately seeking help, he was deeply disappointed when a local “faith healer” could not help. After being led to Velemegna, the boy underwent cataract surgery which restored his sight. Overwhelmed by God’s kindness and Christy’s skills, the boy dedicated his life to God’s service and could be seen riding a friend’s bicycle, singing God’s praises.

A landlord, who had developed blindness due to cataracts and leprosy, came to Velemegna, where he was treated for trophic ulcers on his feet and operated on for cataracts. Overjoyed to see again and sufficiently healed of leprosy, he could once return to manage his farm.

Difficult pregnancies provided many challenges over the years. Once, with Christy away, Sushila needed forceps to deliver a 10 lb. infant. She stitched the wound, but several hours later the woman went into shock and fainted. An injection was administered to raise her pressure, and Sushila asked the nurse to watch the woman so she could get some rest. Hearing what she knew to be the voice of the Lord calmly telling her, “don’t worry, sleep,” Sushila awakened, well-rested early that morning to find the nurse smiling, the patient and baby doing fine.

Another young girl came to Velemegna after being raped. Abortion seemed to her the only way “out,” but Christy and Sushila cared for her during the pregnancy, and the girl willingly gave her healthy baby to an orphanage. A leprosy beggar then kidnapped her and attempted to sell her to a brothel. She was saved by a Christian paramedic who married her, ending the story happily.

After performing an emergency C-section, Sushila began stitching the inside uterine layer when the power suddenly went out. With only a flashlight (torch) available, both Sushila and Christy were fearful that the needle used might have inadvertently fallen inside the woman’s abdomen. With no way to be certain until the lights came back on, both prayed that the needle was not inside. And when power was restored, Sushila and Christy saw the needle lying on the floor at Suzy’s feet.

A 17-year old lambadi (tribal) girl was brought to Velemegna – blind for the past six months and abandoned with a little baby by her husband. Diagnosed with congenital cataracts on both eyes, she was implanted with intra-ocular lenses. Seeing her baby again, she could not stop rejoicing and accepted Jesus into her heart.

In 2007, all three children in one family underwent successful bilateral cataract surgery.

In 2008, Prem Singh from Asha Deep Blind School underwent successful cataract surgery and went from a gloomy boy to a happy one.

In 2009, young Gyaneshwar and his little sister, Gyaneshwari, were restored to sight after undergoing successful surgery for developmental cataracts

2011 was a busy year during which we performed successful surgery on several children to restore to them the blessings of sight. Congenital cataracts had made it nearly impossible for 5-year old Priyanka to smile. After successful surgery, she was “all smiles.” We have also been successful with surgeries for traumatic cataracts.

Our alliance with, and support from www.helpmesee.org, has made it possible for Salins Eye Hospital to help restore sight to dozens of needy Indian children and youth. Those few mentioned below are representative of so many more over the years.

In 2012, 15-year old Md. Isamuddin got electrical burns when he accidentally held a live wire, and as a result developed B/L cataracts. Having spent their savings to save their son’s life, his parents had nothing left to treat his blindness. With HelpMeSee we restored his vision in both eyes.

In 2015, HelpMeSee provided invaluable support for us to bring sight to nine-month old Sainath, who had developed bilateral cataracts.

After losing both parents, one-year old Mujaheed went to live with his widowed aunt. Poor vision made it very difficult for Mujaheed to study, and soon he dropped out of school. When his loving aunty brought him to us, our partnership with HelpMeSee enabled us to perform successful B/L cataract surgery. Today, Mujaheed is a happy, enthusiastic young man.

Seven-year old Narshimma, and twelve-year old Abhishek both suffered from bilateral cataracts. Abhishek also had juvenile diabetes. HelpMeSee supported surgeries that enabled us to give the blessings of sight back to both children.

Guruprasad (6 yrs old), Nikita (5 yrs old), and Adarsh (11 years old) are all able to see through the simple, yet invaluable, cataract surgery that HelpMeSee sponsors, not only in partnership with Salins Eye Hospital, but in other developing countries worldwide.

These are but a few of so many stories of how Velemegna – through the dedication of Christy and Suzy Salins, their daughter, caring staff throughout the years, and support of organizations and individuals like you worldwide – has helped meet the medical and spiritual needs of hundreds of Indian people.